Lucille I. Braniff

Lucille Braniff, Gone at 101 Lucille Ingaborg Jensvold Braniff was born to Louise and Christopher Jensvold on June 20, 1910, in Roundup, Montana, where her parents were homesteading a piece of property out in the country. Times were very hard as they suffered a drought 3 years in a row. Louise and Chris (originally from Canton, South Dakota) were unable to keep the homestead and moved into town when Lucille was still quite young. Later they moved to Bozeman, Montana, where Chris had a difficult time finding a job as a banker -- his occupation in South Dakota. He was given the job of janitor which was quite demoralizing for him. But they survived. During the depression of 1929, Lucille was attending college at Montana State College (later to become University). She worked part-time for the telephone company as a telephone operator, but the telephone company said she would either have to quit or work full time. She made the decision to drop out of college and work full time in order to help her parents meet the mortgage payment each month. Louise Jensvold was an enterprising woman and found she could help support the family if she took in students for board and room. Lucky thing for Lucille because one of those boarders was B. George Braniff from Grass Range, MT. He was living at the house at 607 West Main Street while working on his teaching degree at Montana State College. On June 25, 1936, Lucille Jensvold and B. George Braniff were married at Lake Louise, Bamff, Canada. After ""Barney"" graduated, they moved to Frenchtown, MT, where Barney was a teacher. The following year, Marjorie Louise was born to the happy couple. About 8 1/2 years later Marilyn Kay came along, much to Margie's chagrin. Lucille was primarily a home maker during the child rearing years, making clothes, knitting sweaters, canning pickles, hooking rugs, and doing everything possible to make a comfortable home for her husband and daughters. During the summer months when Barney was out of school, she would return to the telephone company and work as an operator. This she did for many, many years, always enjoying the little extra spending money her working afforded her. The family moved from town to town with Barney getting his master's degree and working as school superintendents in many small towns in Montana. When he was 60, he decided he had had enough of the rat race and retired. They moved to Bozeman -- in with her mother Louise Jensvold and spent the rest of her life with her (she lived until she was 98). After her mother's death, they continued to live in the house at 607 West Main until 1985 when they decided to move to Aurora to be closer to their two daughters. They lived in a duplex on Montana Circle for a few years and then decided it made more sense to move to Heather Gardens where they moved in 1990. There the couple made numerous friends, joined bowling leagues, played bridge, took extended camping trips to Lake Mead and traveled a bit to Hawaii and the West Coast. She and Barney also spent a couple of weeks on a houseboat at Lake Powell with daughter Marilyn and son-in-law Austin. Barney predeceased Lucille on October 8, 1993. And for the last 18 years, Lucille has lived in Building 235, Apartment 105, saying she thought she lived in the BEST building in Heather Gardens. She enjoyed YEARS of playing bridge with the Monday afternoon bridge group, First Friday Bridge, water aerobics, chair yoga, attending St. Mark's Lutheran Church, quilting, family dinners and celebrations. She and her daughter Marjorie traveled to China and Norway/Sweden as well. This past summer she traveled by motor home with her daughter and son-in-law to Roundup, Montana, to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Lutheran Church where she grew up, being the oldest surviving member of the original church. Lucille died at home on December 7, 2011, with her family around her. She is survived by two daughters Marjorie B Connelly and Marilyn K Braniff (and husband Austin Revels); six grandchildren: Debby Pecenka, Tracy Lewis, Shawn Connelly (and wife Mary), Lisa Connelly, David Long (and wife Carla Minion), and Kris Bethscheider; and eight great grandchildren: Amber Judy, Brandy Lewis, Greyson Lewis, Samantha (Connelly) Kile (and husband Nate Kile), Lauren Connelly, Brian Long (and wife Jessica Johnson Long), Alison Long, and Alex Long. She was preceded in death by her sister Gertrude. Memorial Services were held at St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Sat. Dec. 17, 2011, and her remains were interred with her husband's at Fort Logan National Cemetery. Please share your memories of Lucille and condolences with her family by selecting the ""Sign Guestbook"" link below.